203 pages
English language
Published Feb. 14, 2012 by Alfred A. Knopf.
Most of what you think you know about writing is useless. It's the harmful debris of your education'a mixture of half-truths, myths, and false assumptions that prevents you from writing well. Drawing on years of experience as a writer and teacher of writing, Verlyn Klinkenborg offers an approach to writing that will change the way you work and think. There is no gospel, no orthodoxy, no dogma in this book. What you'll find here isn't the way to write. Instead, you'll find a way to clear your mind of illusions about writing and discover how you write. Several Short Sentences About Writing is a book of first steps and experiments. They will revolutionize the way you think and perceive, and they will change forever the sense of your own authority as a writer. This is a book full of learning, but it's also a book full of unlearning'a way to …
Most of what you think you know about writing is useless. It's the harmful debris of your education'a mixture of half-truths, myths, and false assumptions that prevents you from writing well. Drawing on years of experience as a writer and teacher of writing, Verlyn Klinkenborg offers an approach to writing that will change the way you work and think. There is no gospel, no orthodoxy, no dogma in this book. What you'll find here isn't the way to write. Instead, you'll find a way to clear your mind of illusions about writing and discover how you write. Several Short Sentences About Writing is a book of first steps and experiments. They will revolutionize the way you think and perceive, and they will change forever the sense of your own authority as a writer. This is a book full of learning, but it's also a book full of unlearning'a way to recover the vivid, rhythmic, poetic sense of language you once possessed. An indispensable and unique book that will give you a clear understanding of how to think about what you do when you write and how to improve the quality of your writing.
incredibly solid book that's constructed with its own philosophy in mind. fresh insights in every paragraph, and real, practical exercises for the reader to reorient themselves. unlike anything else i've ever read about writing, something i'll have to come back to.
A difficult book to review but thoroughly enjoyable to read. As your awareness of the techniques described grows so does your awareness of their use as the pages progress. Recommended for anyone interested in writing well.
